TBP’s June Entrepreneur Corner Brings in Hundreds of First Friday Shoppers

It’s not every day that a bunch of Kansas City’s local storefront owners can gather together to sell their homemade, one-of-a-kind items.  But thanks to the newly-formed Zaarly Bazaars (and a dynamite collaboration with Think Big Partners), we were able to bring together many of Kansas City’s coolest storefront owners during First Fridays.  The result?  Hundreds of people in and out of our parking lot buying some of the city’s most unique entrepreneurial products.   

There’s no denying it: June 7 was one of Kansas City’s most successful First Fridays.  The Crossroads was buzzing with local vendors, live entertainment (who got to see the Quixotic show?), live bands and hundreds upon thousands of excited attendees.  Snow & Co. was at one-in, one-out capacity, PizzaBella was completely full until 11:00 at night and our parking lot at 18^th & Baltimore was crammed with local shoppers from 7:30-9:30pm.

As a matter of fact, according to Zaarly, over 100 downloads of the Zaarly app occurred during this Entrepreneur Corner--in just a matter of a few hours!

If you had the chance to stop by Entrepreneur Corner and check out our Zaarly Bazaar, we hope you enjoyed your experience (and we hope you walked away with something awesome!  Maybe a Nelson-Atkins inspired Kansas City t-shirt?  Or a throw pillow in the shape of Missouri?). 

We snapped a few photos ourselves as we enjoyed chatting with new and old faces at Entrepreneur Corner.  Take a look:

Our own Think Big booth attracted budding entrepreneurs from the Kansas City area.

Zaarly storefront owners conversed and sold to First Friday attendees.

The Think Big Partners team celebrates Entrepreneur Corner, First Fridays and the Zaarly Bazaar by crowding around Think Big Accelerator's newest product--a Fully charging station/cocktail table. 

Thanks to all who made it out to Entrepreneur Corner and our first ever Zaarly Bazaar during First Fridays!  We hope you had as much fun as we did.

To learn more about Entrepreneur Corner, visit us on Facebook!

June 2013 Entrepreneur Corner: Zaarly Bazaar

Now that summer is upon us, it’s time to celebrate and recognize all the hard work Kansas City’s entrepreneurs have done while suffering through the snowy winter.  And we’re doing it this First Friday! 

It’s time to kick off another summer of Entrepreneur Corner. If you’re not familiar with Entrepreneur Corner, it’s an event hosted by Think Big Partners during First Fridays at our headquarters in the heart of the Crossroads Arts District (1800 Baltimore). Each Entrepreneur Corner event serves as a showcase of local Kansas City entrepreneurs and startups.

The first Entrepreneur Corner of the year will take place on June 7th from 5:30-8:30pm in the Think Big Partners parking lot (our May EC was unfortunately canceled due to weather). For the month of June we are partnering with Zaarly to host a Zaarly Bazaar.  The Bazaar will showcase Zaarly’s local small business storefronts.

We will also be featuring the First Friday by the Pitch app (powered by intev).  The app is a one-stop-shop for info of every event happening on First Friday.

No amazing social event would be complete without drinks—and Think Big has that covered! If you’re wondering about music too, look no further. Think Big Accelerator company WeeJay will be demoing its technology that allows you to be the DJ!

So clear your calendars on June 7^th from 5:30-8:30pm and join us at Entrepreneur Corner to celebrate the beautiful weather and support local entrepreneurs and startups!  See you then. 

Is your startup interested in showcasing at a future Entrepreneur Corner? Contact us!

Think Big Accelerator Spotlight: Connor Sweeney of Weejay

Connor Sweeney, founder of Weejay.

A few weeks ago, Weejay, a startup company founded by Connor Sweeney, was accepted into the Think Big Accelerator program.  The startup, which originally was planned to be a mobile jukebox, has pivoted into a marketing platform with a music focus.  And now that the startup, and the entrepreneur behind it, has gone through a few weeks of the Think Big Accelerator program, things are starting to look bright for the Kansas City-based Weejay.

But it wasn't always that way.  After coming up with the idea, researching it and watching parts of his vision come to life, Connor decided to walk away from the Weejay project in June of 2012 when he found multiple competitors who were already years ahead of him in the space.

"As an entrepreneur, when you have an idea and then discover that someone else does the exact same thing already, it's a deflating moment," says Connor. "But then Blake [Miller] from Think Big gave me a call and encouraged me to move forward.  Think Big gave me the confidence to continue with Weejay.  They reminded me to think of Coke and Pepsi.  There's always room for two in any industry."

But after creating Weejay's design, crafting up a layout and starting the Think Big Accelerator class, Connor still didn't feel 100% about his idea and where it was headed.  So, within the accelerator program, he learned the power of the pivot.

"I had an ah-ha moment a few weeks into the accelerator," says Connor.  "I realized that instead of a mobile jukebox, Weejay could become a marketing platform with a music focus.  It's how other great apps like Pandora and Front Flip have become so successful.  I am now creating a unique music discovery platform that is even better than my original idea."

According to Connor, Weejay is currently in "baby-step mode".  The startup has set out to prove its new model and has begun testing for engagement from establishments around Kansas City (i.e. restaurants).  In addition, the startup is narrowing down much of its gaming components, design and MVP.  But there's no denying it--Connor is anxious to tie up all the loose ends and begin the funding phase.

"I am so grateful for the structure, guidance, education and confidence that the Think Big Accelerator program has given me," says Connor.  "Plus, this is a lot of fun!  I am very excited to move forward through the next 30, 60, 90 days."

Read another Accelerator Spotlight blog post: Dwayne Brock of Kahootz

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Think Big Accelerator in Full Swing in Kansas City

We hit the ground running yesterday with our first Think Big Accelerator class.  The entrepreneurs from New York City, Los Angeles and Kansas City all came together to finally meet one another (as well as Think Big Partners) face-to-face.  The energy was high.  The coffee was plentiful (as was the paperwork).  And the first day of the accelerator seemed to pass by in a blink of an eye.

We are extremely excited to welcome our first accelerator class to the bizperc coworking space, a new office that these startups may start calling "home".  A warm welcome to Keyzio, Kahootz, inCharge, Phone2Action, H2OCloud and WeeJay--the six members of the original Think Big Accelerator class!

These six startups have quite an autumn (and winter) ahead of them.  Think Big Accelerator's 22-week program will truly test these entrepreneurs' strengths and weaknesses and put their big ideas to the test.  With ongoing mentorship, collaboration, startup services, field trips and in-depth discussions and solutions on a weekly basis, we're pretty confident that these six startups will come out stronger, better and more profitable in just 22 weeks.

Accelerator members were invited on a tour of the bizperc coworking space. 

Johnathan Block of H2OCloud (left) and Connor Sweeney of WeeJay (right).

Jeb Ory of Phone2Action. 

Let's just say Day 1 was already quite productive...

Sarah Snyder (left) and Emily Leeper (right) help with accelerator logistics.

Parker Hills of Keyzio (left) goes in-depth with Blake Miller of Think Big Partners (right).

Follow these startups along the accelerator journey.  Stay tuned on our blog for more news and updates about each of these companies and how they're progressing in the Think Big Accelerator! It's going to be a wild ride.

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ANNOUNCING: The Six Startups to Participate in the First Think Big Accelerator Class

We are excited to finally announce the six startups accepted into our first accelerator class, which is to begin on September 25, 2012 at our coworking space, bizperc, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Think Big Accelerator opened its first application window on June 14, 2012 for tech-focused, early-stage startups interested in launching a business faster, smarter and stronger within a Midwest accelerator program.  The accelerator focuses on technology-based businesses with consumer-facing services, software, web services, apps and supportive solutions, to participate in the program.

We have accepted six companies from across the nation to participate in our 22-week accelerator program:

• H2OCloud (New York, New York): H2OCloud is a cloud-based application that connects music fans to bands in a mobile-based platform.  H2OCloud helps bands create more revenue through better marketing, smarter asset management and improve the overall fan experience and artist-fan interaction.
• inCharge (Kansas City, Missouri): inCharge is a kiosk-based mobile phone charging station that provides digital out-of-home targeted advertising to the consumer.  inCharge’s initial focus is high teledensity overseas markets.
• Kahootz (Kansas City, Missouri): Kahootz is a consumer-focused online calendar platform that provides users with easier ways to combine, share and manage all obligations and profiles on one easy-to-maintain social-based platform. Kahootz also enables user-controlled, privacy-enabled, permission-based business-to-consumer markets through event promotion syndication.
• Keyzio (Kansas City, Missouri): Keyzio has been defined as the Match.com for real estate for two people who don’t know they are trying to find each other. The Keyzio platform connects people and helps them find, buy and sell real estate that may not normally be available through MLS.
• Phone2Action (Los Angeles, California): Phone2Action uses location-based mobile technology to instantly connect constituents to their lawmakers making in-the-moment advocacy easier.
• Weejay (Kansas City, MO): Weejay is a virtual jukebox application that allows customers to control music in particular venues through mobile devices. Weejay’s venue management feature dashboard enables total control of music for a specific venue and creates better revenue opportunities for venue owners to enhance the overall patron experience. 

“Once again, we were overwhelmed by both the quality and the quantity of applications we received,” said Think Big Partners co-founder Tyler Prochnow.  “While the quality of their ideas alone were impressive, even more impressive was the quality of the entrepreneurs.  Several of the class participants are repeat founders who have already achieved a high level of success in other ventures.  We are confident that they will add significant value to the formal program we have established.” 

The first Think Big Accelerator class will start its 22-week program on Tuesday, September 25, 2012, capped by a Demo Week in January of 2013.      

Think Big Accelerator typically takes 6-8% equity in participating companies with an $18,000-$24,000 investment.  Additionally, there will be an alternative track for those who are not interested in funding but would like to participate in the accelerator program to receive its benefits. 

"We are especially excited to be able to attract a different type of entrepreneur to Kansas City," said co-founder of Think Big Partners, Herb Sih. "The Think Big Accelerator Program will enable entrepreneurs who could not uproot their lives and move to another city for four months to build and launch companies while still maintaining other life obligations at some level. We took cues from executive MBA programs, combined them with accelerator best practices, then bolted on an innovation factory mentality.” 

To learn more about our Think Big Accelerator, please visit www.thinkbigpartners.com/accelerator.

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